HANSA impresses ISO auditors

In the sixth repeat audit for ISO 9001, TÜV Süd certifies that the company has made clear progress and that the foundry has achieved model status

Stuttgart, 15 January 2013. "I've seen quite a few foundries in my time, but in many regards HANSA in Burglengenfeld is a benchmark," explains Christof Grüner, Lead Auditor at TÜV Süd. As a result, Hansa Armaturen GmbH has again been audited successfully for the 19th time in accordance with ISO 9001, the international quality management standard. After having completed the evaluation of the Stuttgart, Burglengenfeld and Kralovice (Czech Republic) locations, the auditors were also impressed with the progress in the area of quality management.

"A lot has been done at HANSA over the past two years," Grüner observes. TÜV Süd has certified the Stuttgart-based fitting specialists since the first audit in 1995 and has therefore known HANSA for a relatively long time. "If you evaluate a company repeatedly over a long period, you get to know their weaknesses," emphasizes Grüner - and clear improvements have again been made at HANSA since their last audit. The auditors at TÜV Süd have also attested to the company's very good conditions with regard to its core values such as orderliness, cleanliness and general appearance. Processes have also been steadily and systematically further developed, and HANSA is working with very modern methods in this area. "We see process-modeling systems or universal product lifecycle management often being used in the automotive industry for example, but in the sanitary sector, it is still quite rare; HANSA is therefore leading the way," Grüner confirms.

These kinds of systems ensure a high degree of transparency and consistency in all processes from development and production through to product modifications. All steps are completely documented and in an easily understandable way - and all employees have access to all the information they require to do their work at all times. HANSA is also using modern design and simulation systems such as Catia V6 or Moldflow when developing products. Quality assurance thus begins very early on in the product-engineering process, and IT systems help to avoid unnecessary material usage by preventing the production of rejects.

"Being smart with resources and using them sparingly is a part of our philosophy - and this applies to the intelligent use of water and to everything that concerns the development, manufacture and marketing of our products," explains Christopher Marshall, CEO of HANSA. This also includes the procurement of raw materials, logistics and customer service. This approach to sustainability was summed up at HANSA many years ago through the motto "Green Responsibility" as one of the company's central guiding principles.

Despite successful certification and praise for the improvements made, in the sixth repeat audit, the TÜV auditors also recognized there was still room for further optimizations. "We are eager to take on these challenges. Nothing is ever done so well that it cannot be improved upon any further - and our aspiration is to spend each day working on what hasn't yet been optimized," explains Marshall. "This is the essence of ISO certification for us: During the repeat audits and routine surveillance visits, the existing systems for quality management are not only evaluated neutrally, but a constructive glance from outside often uncovers things that internally would only be found with great difficulty."